Related articles

Cameron only called the referendum because he was so out of touch with voters that he was convinced he would win. It's hard not to conclude that the reason he failed so dismally in his "negotiations" with the EU before the referendum was that in his heart he is a true Remainer; he unwisely assumed that because the result was a foregone conclusion there was no point upsetting the cosy European applecart.

Happily, 17.4 million voters gave him a salutary lesson in democracy. Sadly, he didn't have the decency to stick around and carry out the Brexit mandate he'd been given. Instead he sloped off to the Cotswolds to write his memoirs - as well as touring the world making speeches to anyone wealthy enough, or daft enough, to pay his £2,000-a-minute fee.

His cowardice under fire led to open warfare in the Conservative party as ministers fought over the carcass of the Cabinet with a shark-like frenzy.

AS A RESULT of Cameron's action, after a damaging and lengthy bout of blood-letting Theresa May was left in charge of a government so deeply divided it couldn't sit in the same room as itself without throwing a few punches.

You'd think Cameron would realise he had his moment and made a dog's breakfast of it. You'd think he'd realise the country has had enough of posh Eton boys imposing their misguided liberal views.

David Cameron returns to politics

Thu, May 11, 2017

The former prime minister of Great Britain, David Cameron, visits Nantwich in Cheshire to meet members of the public and campaign for votes ahead of the general election on the 8th of June in the UK

But no. He wants to come swanning back like the Tony Blair of the Tories, a ghostly (or should that be ghastly?) apparition at the feast. The Banquo of Brexit. He doesn't want to be pushy, of course. He's graciously recognised that his comeback would have to wait until Mrs May had gone. Let's hope that gives her greater motivation to stay.

I should declare an interest here. When Cameron became party leader in December 2005 I worked for him for three months, writing articles that appeared under his name and drafting speeches (I still have the party's first pay cheque framed on my office wall).

As a tabloid journalist I'd spent years analysing complex political and economic issues and trying to explain them in simple terms. But when Cameron interviewed me in his private office at the Commons he was condescending about my career: "At least you should be able to write me some good jokes."

As it turned out, there was no need for a joke. Cameron was more than capable of producing his own - his performance as Prime Minister. More than once I wrote a speech which was turned down because his aides explained my words were too Right-wing for his taste. I remember one on the NHS which was rejected - but part of which saw the light of day two years later as the realisation dawned that Tory voters demanded more traditional substance from their leader.

Related articles

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron (Image: GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)

They were not impressed by hugging a hoodie, his gimmicky climate change husky ride, his call for prison not to be a short, sharp shock, his championing of gay marriage. Whatever merits these causes may have had, they weren't on the agenda at the Frog and Ferret.

People cared about jobs, schools, hospitals, defence - the things that really mattered in their lives.

Being an opportunist from a public relations background, Cameron saw only the chance to make headlines. As someone at Tory Central Office once confided: "The PM's a man with hidden shallows."

That verdict was confirmed by a conversation I had with media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. When asked what he thought of Cameron when he met him for the first time, Murdoch gave a wry smile and said: "I noticed he had something written on his hand in Biro. I assumed it was his principles."

SINCE resigning Cameron has spent much of his time writing his book in a £25,000 upper-class man-cave in his Cotswolds garden. The Red Sky shepherd's hut on wheels includes a woodburning stove, sofa bed and sheep's wool insulation.

The book, published for an £800,000 fee, is due to be released next September and is expected to savage Michael Gove and Boris Johnson, among many others. Revenge truly is a dish best served cold.

So far, Cameron's main income has come from making speeches around the world. At a conference in India he got £200,000 and the month before he was paid more than £120,000 for an hour's work, equivalent to 10 months' pay as Prime Minister.

Nice work if you can get it. But it's not enough to satisfy the ego of a man who realises he will be remembered for all the wrong reasons and wants to try to rewrite history.

In his resignation speech he declared: "I will do everything I can in future to help this great country succeed."